


Tugged on my Heartstrings

by Anomynous_Nin



Category: PaRappa the Rapper, Um Jammer Lammy
Genre: Awkwardness, Developing Relationship, Drama, Eventual Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-12 12:07:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19945900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anomynous_Nin/pseuds/Anomynous_Nin
Summary: Lammy is not one to pursue romance. For all of her life, there is not a single instance of her being approached by anybody romantically, perhaps due to her shy nature, her inability to converse normally, and her being overshadowed by others. But she is fine with that, as she already has everything that she wants, from good friends to being in an awesome rock band. As long as it stays that way for a long time, she has nothing to worry about.But everything changed after her first meeting with a friend of a friend, a certain rapping dog with a huge heart for his friends and hometown. Her views on life change gradually and slowly, and with the subsequent help from the same friend, she started to feel something for him, something that she never thought would be possible: Love.Will she have the courage to act upon her newly-discovered feelings? Or will the strings of fate lead her down to the path of heartache in which she will never recover from?





	1. The Rapper and the Guitarist

_It was a dark and stormy night. As the wind blew hard against the town, accompanied by the heavy rain, the weather proved to be quite difficult for anyone to go outside, especially since a weather forecast had issued a warning to remain at home. To the majority of the people, the storm was simply another natural occurrence from time to time. But to some, the storm was a manifestation of people’s emotions, specifically depression._

_It was the case for a lone, tall dog walking down the empty, cemented road surrounded by rows of trees, wearing a brown trench coat and a brown fedora hat. His hands were hiding inside his pockets, and he was looking down on the ground, as he continued to walk down the path leading to the outskirts of the town, no long wanting to have anything to do with it and its people. The storm followed him along._

_He slightly lifted his head up and saw a nearby sign that says ‘You are leaving Jetson Town. Goodbye, and we hope to see you again!’ He hoped that he wouldn’t come back there at all. But he was one step closer to leaving everything behind. To leave that pain behind. To leave that person behind for good…_

_“Shawn, wait!” The dog suddenly heard a female voice crying out to him. He stopped and turned his head around and saw a lone white lamb standing behind him. Regardless, he wanted to leave this instant._

_The white lamb was left panting, her knees slightly bent with her hands planked over them. Her white fur and clothes, consisting of a simple violet shirt and blue jeans with a yellow apron over them, were completely soaked by the rain, as if she ran in a hurry without clothing herself properly for the weather. “Please, wait! I beg of you!”_

_“Go back home, Lana. You shouldn’t be here…” The dog spoke._

_“I won’t!” The lamb retorted. “Not until you come back to us! Jetson Town won’t be the same without you!”_

_“… There is nothing left for me here.” He replied, as lightning struck in the distance to emphasize his decision. “I have made my choice. This is for my own good. So please, don’t try to stop me…” He turned his head back to the front as he resumed his walk, trying his best to ignore the pleas of his friend._

_“… I know what happened! Between you and Suzy!” Lana spoke out._

_Shawn stopped dead in his tracks and frowned, as that was the last thing that he wanted to hear._

_“I’m really, really sorry about what happened between you two… No one was expecting this to happen, after everything you two have been through… But please understand that she didn’t mean to hurt you…”_

_“… How would you feel when you spent your whole life trying to impress your long-time love, trying to be together with that person, and finally achieving that dream… Only for the same person to burn it down to the ground, along with all the efforts and heartache that come with it?” he asked, his tone slightly rising from a mixture of anger and sadness. “She knew how much I love her…. She knew the lengths that I’m willing to go through to be with her… She even reciprocated my feelings for her… And she ended things between us even after all of that…”_

_Lana could feel the sadness in his voice when he explained how his efforts to get his love to notice him had gone to waste. She could never imagine how it would feel… But she could not stand seeing him in so much pain. “Shawn…” she softly whispered, as tears started to form in her eyes, shrouded by the rain drops._

_“… This town holds too many painful memories…” Shawn said, as he resumed his walk, fully intended to turn away from everything. “I know she means well… But I can’t stand this pain anymore… Goodbye, Lana….”_

_“Shawn… Please…! Don’t go!” she cried out for him, as she extended her arm towards him, hoping to stop him from leaving. He didn’t reply. “Don’t go! Think about your friends! Your family! You’re the reason why every day was such a wonderful day! You supported us when we’re feeling down! You’ve helped us to get this far in our lives! Especially me…”_

_The dog still did not reply, as he was almost at the point of passing the departure sign, which signified the point where he would cut all ties with the town and its inhabitants. Lana’s tears kept falling freely, as none of her attempts to make him change his mind did anything. His heart was broken beyond repair, and he was about to be gone._

_Unable to see him go, it was now or never for her._

_“I LOVE YOU!”_

_Shawn widened his eyes in shock, as he completely stopped himself before his foot crossed the point. At that moment, the raging storm seemed to have weakened a little._

_“W… What?” he asked, as he turned his head back to look at the lamb, who had her hands pressing against her chest, her eyes closed shut, as she had declared those three words as hard as she could. “What did you say…?”_

_“I said I love you… I always have…” Lana replied, as she opened her tearful eyes for him. “I always have… ever since we were in grade school… You were so nice, so supportive, so much so that I feel like I didn’t deserve any of it… You helped me move forward and realize my dream… If you weren’t here in my life, I would have been lost…”_

_“Lana…”_

_“Every time I was feeling down about everything, you were always there to support me, to pick me off the ground and help me see the bright side… I wouldn’t know what to do without you… So please… Please don’t go…”_

_The words ‘I love you’ echoed endlessly in his mind. His eyes were fixated on her own, full of sadness to see him disappear, and full of love to see him especially. At that moment, the storm ceased, and his heart felt whole once more._

_He completely turned himself around and ran towards Lana, letting his fedora hat fly off from his head. He fully embraced the white lamb in his arms, earning a surprised gasp from her. “Shawn…?”_

_“Oh Lana…! I was such a fool…!” he spoke, never wanted to let go of her. “I was so focused on Suzy that I never noticed everything else around me…! I never noticed how much you love me…! To think that I was about to leave because she broke up with me…! Will you ever forgive me, Lana?”_

_“Shawn…!” Lana smiled, as she shed tears of joy instead of sadness, returning the dog’s embrace. “Of course I forgive you…! I love you too much to hold it against you…! I will always be there for you, supporting you just as you supported me…! So please, don’t leave me…!”_

_“I won’t…! I will never leave you and this town ever again, Lana…! I love you too…!”_

_As the dog and lamb lovingly embraced each other, a single ray of light shined over them, as the dark cloud have begun to dispersed and the Sun was about to rise, signalling a new day._

_And then, the view suddenly started to pan out, as it went from just the two of them to the entire view of the town._

_“Love is a strange, but wonderful thing. There comes the best of times and the worst of times. We believe that we finally found love at first glance, only to have it strip away from us. Pain and sadness always comes whenever we encounter situations like this, but in time, the heart will heal itself, and love will find its way once more. There is no need to narrow our mindsets to find love. True love only comes when we expand our horizons and let it come naturally. We may face numerous hardships associated with it, but in the end, a happy ending will sure to follow. So remember… Love will always find its way in everyone.”_

* * *

A redheaded lamb turned off the TV just before the credits started rolling for the movie that she just finished watching. She sighed before tossing the remote aside, wondering why she even bothered to watch those kinds of movies when the moral of the story did not apply to her. 

After all, she was just a shy, socially-awkward girl. Whenever she tried to give love a chance, it blew right into her face like pie. It was as if nobody wanted a girl like her, or there was always a better girl around to pin for. She never asked herself why. She simply thought that it was par for the course for her.

But why would she need love to be happy? As far as she knew, she was perfectly content with what she had now. She had friends, she had a cool band, and she had her awesome guitar. She stood up from the ground and walked towards her guitar, leaning against the wall in front of her bed. She held it in her hands and pulled the strings in rhythm to play a few notes out of it, smiling all the way.

She looked at her clock and noticed that it was already past 9. She yawned as she stretched her arms out. “Better get some sleep… Gotta wake up in time for practice…”

With that, she positioned her guitar back to the way it was, brushed her teeth, turned off the lights of her room, climbed up on her bed, pulled the covers over her, and started sleeping. Tomorrow was going to be another new day for her. She hoped that things wouldn’t steer away from the usual, but as long as she was jamming with the rest of the band, it would be alright.

But just before she drifted off to sleep, one last thought went through her mind: Can love ever find its way to her?

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

**The Rapper and the Guitarist**

MilkCan. An all-girls garage rock band that had just started to take flight in the music industry, well known by the inhabitants of Parappa Town, especially the young and hip. When people spoke of MilkCan, it wasn’t just their ability to rock out and dish out awesome music, but also their members that have left a pretty big impression on them.

Katy Kat, MilkCan’s bassist and lead vocalist, is a very up-beat cat who is eager to share her energy with the rest of the folks, which she could channel with her impressive skills with the bass and her harmonious singing talents.

Ma-san, the band’s drummer, is known to be pretty harsh and very straightforward when voicing her mind. Regardless, the short critter had proven herself to be the band’s more intense member, and her explosive drumming skills could be felt from a distance. Overall, both Katy and Ma-san were the driving force in MilkCan’s rise to fame, and everyone always talk about them in general.

But rarely anyone ever talked about the band’s guitarist. Nobody can deny that she also contributed to the band’s popularity, with her amazing ability to rock out with a guitar. But compared to her two fellow members, she didn’t leave a big enough impression. Nowadays, her presence was overshadowed by Katy and Ma-san. But to her, she preferred it that way.

Lammy is a redheaded lamb whose skills with the guitar are widely recognized by her friends and fellow members of the band, but is known to be very shy, somewhat gloomy and hard to approach. While that was her usual personality, there was another part of her that only comes out in certain circumstances that only her closest friends knew about. Whenever she took hold of her guitar, she turned from a timid girl to a confident rock star. No one yet knows why that was the case, but that part of her was what got them to where they were currently.

At first, she was against the idea of performing in a band, due to being timid, until Katy convinced her otherwise. Katy and Ma-san were the first friends in years who were not in the least bothered by her shyness and low self-esteem, and she was glad that she got to know them. Not wanting to disappoint them, she agreed to start a band with them, and thus, MilkCan was born.

Since then, MilkCan had been performing in various locations of Parappa Town, from school recitals to a music expo. They even got to record their first single at a music studio. With each performance, they had quickly gained recognition and were even noticed by the higher-ups in the music industry, something that they have yet to learn about.

After everything that had been going on with the group, Lammy felt like she was content in what they were doing. Of course, they were a few bumps and turns along the way, but as long as things remained that way for a long time, she had nothing to worry about.

Little did she know that her little life would soon change with that first meeting…

* * *

“(Man, what in the world is taking her so long?! I’m getting hungry here!)” complained the small rodent in her rather unique language, as she stood on her seat and frantically looked around the restaurant and outside the window from the table that she and the guitarist were sitting at, in search of a blue cat who was supposed to meet up with them a while ago. 

Inside of Chunky Burger, one of the many fast food restaurants of Parappa Town, was where Lammy and Ma-san could be found sitting at one of the tables located right beside the windows. The place was full of colourful characters there, each with their own ecstatic personalities that really brightened up the place and pulled the crowd in.

Katy had told them to meet up with her at the restaurant so that they could talk about their next plans for practice, and just generally hang out like always. She also mentioned that she was going to bring some friends along so that the other members could finally meet them in person, which was something that Lammy was not looking forward to.

It was already 15 minutes past the appointed meet-up time, and Ma-san’s patience was slowly, but surely dwindling down, just like the fuse of the dynamite stick that she wore on her head, for whatever reason. “(Geez! If she knew that she was going to be this late, she would have told us sooner! I bet it’s because of those friends that she told us about! I should have known that they’re more trouble than they’re worth!)” exclaimed Ma-san in a language that was best described as ‘gibberish’, which only her closest friends can understand.

“H-hey, now…” spoke Lammy who was sitting on the opposite side of the table from her, as she tried to calm the drummer down. “T-they’re probably just late because they ran into something along the way… I-I mean Katy looked really happy when she told us that she wanted us to meet her friends, so, um… W-we shouldn’t jump the gun like that…”

“(Hmph! Whatever!)” The yellow rodent crossed her arms as she fell right back down on her seat with an annoyed expression on her face. “(They’re better be worth the trouble! Right now, my stomach is growling like mad, and if they don’t show up in the next 10 minutes, I’m just gonna take a huge bite out of this joint!)”

“Please don’t, Ma-san…”

Ma-san turned her head away while letting out another grunt. The guitarist hoped that she did enough to dissuade the drummer from doing anything involving blowing up the restaurant. With that, the two members of MilkCan continued to wait for their lead member to arrive, as Lammy took a sip of her soda in the meanwhile.

“(So, you seeing somebody right now, Lammy?)” Ma-san suddenly asked, causing the lamb to almost choke on her drink.

“W-w-w-w-wha?!” Lammy coughed, throwing a look of disbelief at her friend. “M-M-Ma-san?! What brought this on?!”

“(So you’re not seeing anybody? Well then, you’ll be happy to know that I’ve found some pretty cute celebrities on TV! Hey, some of them might be your type!)” The rodent exclaimed as she flashed an excited grin at her, which only occurred during the very few times that she was in a good mood.

Lammy groaned as she placed her palms over her face. It was another one of Ma-san’s ploys, no doubt about it. “Can we please not talk about this, Ma-san…?”

“(Oh, stop being so gloomy, will ya! At least be glad that I’m giving you a chance to find a significant other! And what better way to find somebody than a cute celebrity!)”

“… Like that will ever happen…” Lammy murmured, as she turned her gaze away from the short drummer. The idea of her finding a special guy was as likely as seeing pigs fly. Real pigs, to be exact. Not the pigs that lived among them. You know what I mean… And besides, she was already content with what she had.

Regardless of Lammy’s stance, Ma-san went on to talk about the TV celebrities anyway. At first, she spoke about some big name actors, hosts and musicians who she thought might be Lammy’s type, mainly based on how likely they could brighten up her day. But then, she diverged into talking about a celebrity who was pretty much her type, being harsh, wild, and prone to explode like her, and she would like to take him to her dad’s Chinese pharmacy… Right before she eventually explained how things wouldn’t work out between them. Lammy knew that once the critter had something going, it was hard to get her to stop. All she had to do was to let the drummer speak her mind, either for 5 minutes… or an hour.

“Hey, guys! Sorry that I’m late!” A familiar voice was heard which caused the two MilkCan members to gaze at the direction of the voice, as they saw their blue leader running at them, waving her arm and flashing one of her enthusiastic smiles.

“Katy!” Lammy smiled upon seeing her cat friend. Almost immediately afterwards, she dropped her smile upon noticing that Katy was followed by two strangers who she assumed were the friends that she was talking about, much to the lamb’s dismay.

“(About time you showed up!)” Ma-san did not hesitated to express her exasperation towards the blue cat.

“Sorry about that!” Katy apologized, stopping right in front of her fellow members. “We ran into a bit of an issue along the way, but now we’re here! And I’m really happy that I get to introduce you to my friends here!” she exclaimed, as she gestured them to the two newcomers right behind her. It was then that Lammy got a clear look at them.

One of them was a beige dog with black ears who wore a cyan sleeveless shirt and a pair of deep blue baggy pants, as well as an orange beanie with a frog patch on his head. The dog had a smile on his face that gave off an optimistic vibe.

The other was a brown bear who, unlike his partner, didn’t seem to wear any clothes, and he was seen munching on a donut in his hand. From his absent-minded expression and his half-opened eyes, it looked like he was about to fall asleep at any moment.

“Lammy, Ma-san, meet my good friends from school! Parappa and PJ Berri!”

“Yo, what’s up!” greeted the dog, named Parappa, as he waved his hand at him.

“Hi there.” The bear, named PJ, spoke in his turn, before he took a bite out of his donut.

Katy then turned to the two boys as she gestured to her band members. “And Parappa, PJ, these are my other good friends and members of MilkCan! Lammy and Ma-san!”

“H-hi…” Lammy gave a very small smile, as she did a very small hand wave at them, while averting her eyes slightly.

“(Wow, those guys must have been a chore if it took you this long to get here!”) Ma-san scoffed. “(Look the part too!)”

“Ma-san!” Katy reproached her, in which the small critter crossed her arms and turned her head away slightly in response.

Parappa had a look of confusion on his face upon hearing the yellow rodent’s strange language, as he scratched the back of his head. “Uhh… What was that she said?”

“Oh! Hehe… She said ‘Nice to meet you!’” Katy replied, sugarcoating Ma-san’s words.

“(That’s not what I said!)”

“Don’t worry, though! The more you get to know her, the more you’ll understand her!”

“Oh! Alright, cool!” The dog nodded, smiling positively. “So you two are the other members of the band, huh? Phew! Now that we finally meet, I’m actually kinda glad!”

“Huh? W-why is that…?” Lammy asked, as she tilted her head confusingly at what Parappa said.

“Oh! Uh… Heh heh! No reason, I guess!” he chuckled nervously with his arms moving behind his head and his gaze turning away slightly. “I’m just saying that I’m glad that we got to meet you two! I just thought that… Uh, well…”

“What Parappa is trying to say is that we thought that you two are big, scary br-“ PJ tried to absent-mindedly explain what his friend was saying, until the dog quickly covered his mouth before he uttered the last word.

“What…? Scary…?” Lammy repeated one of the bear’s words in confusion, unsure as to why she fit the ‘scary’ part.

“Oh! Hah hah! Don’t mind him!” Parappa reassured her as he let out another nervous chuckle. “PJ here tends to zone out most of the time, so he’s prone to say whatever without making any sense out of it! But don’t worry! He’s a good pal, I can tell you that!” The dog then threw a look of warning at the bear, in which his friend nodded in acknowledgement.

“Um… Okay…”

Seeing all of her friends interacting with one another, Katy could not contain her joy, as she clasped her hands together. “Oh, I’m so excited that you guys get to know each other! It’s been a long time coming, but here we are! Though, there is another friend that I want to bring along too, but she couldn’t make it today, so that’ll be for next time.”

“Yeah, that’s too bad…” Parappa sighed.

“(Okay, enough with the introductions!)” exclaimed Ma-san as she dropped herself off of her seat and skittered towards the counter to order food. “(Let’s just eat already! Any more waiting around and I’ll definitely take a huge bite out of this place!)”

“Good idea. Let’s go get some burgers.” PJ stated, somehow understanding Ma-san’s language rather quickly, though it might be because she mentioned eating something. He finished eating his donut before proceeding to follow the drummer towards the counter.

“Yo, PJ! Get me a Chunky Burger and a chocolate frosty, will ya! I’ll pay ya back!” The beanie-wearing dog asked.

“Sure. I’ll get you some.” The bear replied, waving his hand in confirmation.

“Hey, hold up! I’m coming too, you know!” Katy stated, before she turned to her lamb friend. “You’re getting the usual, right, Lammy? I’m gonna get us some food! My treat! Be right back!”

“H-huh? W-w-wait a minute!” Before Lammy could have a say on the matter, her cat friend had already left to join the rodent and the bear, leaving the guitarist with the worst case scenario: alone with a person who she barely knew.

In her head, she quickly debated whether or not she should join the others to order some food together. On one hand, she would avoid having to act like a nervous wreck when she was close to her friends and to avoid leaving a negative impression on a single person. On the other hand, that would mean leaving the beanie-wearing dog behind, which would also mean leaving a negative impression on him. So it was a lose-lose scenario either way.

When she glanced at Parappa, he was staring at the group who left to get some food. Just as she felt a small sense of relief that he didn’t seem to be focusing on her, the dog turned his head towards her and, as he noticed that she was looking at him, flashed his optimistic smile.

Lammy reacted by instantly looking down on her knees, blushing, as she glued herself even further down to her seat, her hands grasping onto one another and positioning over her thighs. She tried to remain silent until the others come back, as another way to avoid an embarrassing situation with a single person. Hopeful, neither of them would start conversing with one another during the whole period of time.

“So, you play the guitar?” asked Parappa, dashing her hopes of being absolutely quiet the whole way.

“H-huh? Uh… Well, I… Um…” Lammy stuttered, as she was trying to search her panicked mind as to how to answer him. Despite her unwillingness to speak alone with a person, she didn’t want to be rude to him by staying silent and leaving him hanging. “Y… Yeah…” she replied, trying to keep her answers as short as possible to avoid being seen as a pain in the neck.

“Cool!” the dog expressed his fascination, as he sat down at the opposite side of the table where Ma-san used to be. “Katy told me all about how you’re a pretty good guitarist! She also said that the way you’re jamming those strings and rocking out, it’s like it’s out of this world!”

“Um… T-thanks…” She blushed, as she didn’t expect to hear that kind of compliment. Even though she still had doubts about how well she played.

“So that means that you’re crazy about music, right?” Parappa asked.

The redheaded guitarist gave him a short nod.

“Nice! I’m actually crazy about it too! I also make my own tunes every once in a while! 

“R-really?” Lammy asked, as she lifted her head up to look at the dog, a sense of curiosity coming over her.

“Yeah! I’m a rapper, so I rap stuff! Wanna hear?”

“Oh, um… Well, I…” Before she could answer, the beanie-wearing dog had already started dishing out his skills, making gestures with his hands in rhythm to his rap.

“P to the A to the R to the A! Parappa’s the name, I rap everyday!

Rapping’s my game, and it gets all the fame! When the boys come and hear, they give it acclaim!

My songs are here to keep bad days apart! The Sun that warms folks deep in the heart!”

“W-wow! T-that’s really good!” praised the guitarist, as she applauded to the rapper’s performance.

“Heh heh! Thanks!” Parappa grinned, as he scratched the back of his head. “I guess you can say that I have the natural talent for it, ‘cause I’ve been rapping since I was a kid as far as I can remember. Ask the others, and they’ll say the same thing about it.”

“Wow… I-it must have been nice, being born with a talent already…” she spoke softly.

“Nah, I wouldn’t say that! You have some talent too, right? I mean, you’re an awesome guitarist!”

“H-huh? Um… I…” She blushed once more from another one of the rapper’s compliments, as she looked back down at her knees. Even though she appreciated the compliment, she still couldn’t deny one thing about her. “I… I guess I do have some… B-but I’m not awesome in the least…”

The dog raised an eyebrow at what she said. “Huh? Why not?”

“I-I don’t know, really… If anything, the awesome part fits Katy and Ma-san more. T-that’s what everyone who’ve seen our performance said, anyways…”

“Whaaa? That’s crazy talk!” the rapper exclaimed, as he was surprised at what she told him. “I mean, Katy’s always been saying how much you and Ma-san are great in what you guys do! So in that case, everybody and their moms would say that all three of you are awesome together!”

She shrugged. “I guess… I just don’t stand out, compared to the others…” she stated. When she moved her gaze up to him, she noticed that the dog had a concerned look on his face. She tried to reassure him by raising her hands up in front of her and giving him a small smile. “B-but that’s okay, though. I mean, MilkCan is getting popular because of Katy and Ma-san. Katy is a great friend, and she always has something in her that brings everyone together. Ma-san is… W-well, she’s fierce, and she always brings a lot of power in our performance that entice everyone…”

“So… What’s different about you?” he asked.

Once more, Lammy moved her gaze down. “I… I don’t know… That’s just how it it, so I can’t really do much to make people notice me… But it’s fine, I don’t mind it at all…”

Just when she thought that she put the subject to rest, she noticed that Parappa was focusing on her, based on his expression. She was wondering what he was trying to do, and she felt a little bit uncomfortable being stared at like that, as evident of her hands fidgeting in response.

After a short while, a smile came up on his face, and he shook his head. “Nah! You know what I think? I think the folks are missing out.”

“H-huh?”

“You say you’re not awesome because everyone thinks so? Well, I say that you are! I mean, true that I didn’t listen to any of your songs yet, but I know that Katy wasn’t exaggerating about how amazing you are! And from what I’ve seen, I believe that it’s a fact, no doubt about it!”

She was taken aback by what he had just told her, even when there wasn’t anything that indicated how certain he was about it. “Wha… B-but how can you tell?”

“You’re speaking to a music virtuoso! My eyes can tell when a person is good to go, yo!” he explained while rapping for a short bit. “And not everybody knows a lot about music like some others. I mean, a band doesn’t just get big because of a few members. It’s because of all of its members that everything works out. And yeah, maybe we can’t change people’s mind about how things go. But if you ask me…”

The beanie-wearing dog then started to show off his toothy grin at the guitarist. “As a guy who experienced music for a long time, I believe that you are a cool guitarist. And nothing’s gonna change what I believe.”

The guitarist was left staring at the rapper with a look of astonishment. For the first time in a long while, Lammy felt touched by Parappa’s words. At first, she was a little grateful that he had complimented her skills with the guitar, but it was a lot more surprising to hear him say all of those things about her skills and her contribution to the band without a shred of doubt in his words. For a brief moment, she felt something in him that was very similar to how she felt in Katy and Ma-san. “I… I…”

“Hey! We’re back!” The two of them both heard the blue cat’s announcement, as they turned their heads and saw the group coming back with a number of trays in their hands, each carrying a different set of food.

“Oh nice!” The dog expressed his excitement. “I was actually starting to get a bit hungry here!”

“Sorry that it took us this long!” apologized Katy, as she placed two trays down side by side on the table in front of Lammy. “The kitchen was pretty busy back there, but at least we got some grub!” She then sat down on the bench right next to the redheaded lamb, who made some room for her friend.

“(Finally!)” exclaimed Ma-san, as she jumped over to the opposite bench on the side right next to the window, with a tray in hand. “I can finally dig in on all of this stuff! Any longer, and I would’ve explode and take the whole place with me!)”

“So, Parappa,” addressed PJ to his friend, as he sat down next to the rapper who also made room for him. “You got a chance of getting to know this girl yet while we’re gone?”

“Oh yeah! Just a bit, though!” Parappa replied. “She’s pretty cool, PJ! Take it from me when I say that she’ll be a pretty cool friend to talk to!”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Katy smiled, as she clasped her hands together before looking over to her lamb friend. “It’s so sweet to know that you got to talk to Parappa, Lammy! He’s a pretty great guy to be around, right?”

Lammy blushed, as she once again looked down to her knees. “Um… Well, I…” She felt a little bit embarrassed to talk about her impression of Parappa, based on their conversations. So she decided to stay quiet about it, which was quickly acknowledged by everyone.

Soon, everyone started to eat their individual food. Both Ma-san and PJ were a bit quicker when they were digging in compared to the others. Ma-san’s case was because she was really hungry and impatient. PJ’s case was that… Well, that was how he is naturally. Everyone else was taking their time with their food, savouring the deliciousness of the fast-food cuisine.

Then, in the middle of their eating session, Katy started to make an announcement to the group. “Okay! Now that we’re all settled in, let’s talk about our plans for today! Here’s what I think that we should do!”

The rest of the group listened in on the singer’s suggestions on what to do to spend the day, sometimes pitching in their own suggestions to make things interesting and fair for everyone.

And the entire time that they were formulating their plans, Lammy couldn’t help but look over Parappa, who managed to grab her attention with his kind remarks.

_End of Chapter_


	2. First Time on the Radio

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! This is Anomynous_Nin, here with the latest chapter of the story! First off, I would like to thank you all for the comments, kudos and the bookmarks so far. This is pretty much my first story in a long while, and I hope that I get to finish it to completion, and hopefully you guys would join me for the ride.
> 
> Speaking of which, I want to mention one thing about the first chapter to you guys. Actually, the first chapter of the story... I actually wrote three years ago, back when I first start to really like the PaRappa the Rapper franchise. That was before some tough personal stuff happened and I put the story aside until very recently. As a result, my writing is a bit rusty, and it might show in this chapter. but nonetheless, I intend to write the story until the end and have you guys enjoy it in the long haul.
> 
> Anyways, that's all for my brief announcement. Enjoy Chapter 2 of Tugged on my Heartstrings, everyone!

****There was this one time that MilkCan had been asked these questions in particular during a fan meeting a while back: How are they able to get to their shows on time in a place as robust as Parappa Town? What form of transportation that they used?

The answer: By foot.

Thinking how utterly insane their response was, they then asked the band if they ever thought of driving themselves around or have a chauffeur to do the job for them. MilkCan stated that, as of now, they are not totally on board with the idea because none of the members have a Driver’s License and have yet to consider getting one. They reassured their fans that they all are very familiar with the layout of their hometown so much that they can get to any places in time with relative ease, with the only challenges being when and where they need to go, as well as the unforeseen obstacles impeding their paths.

That is but one half of their answer to the question. The other half…

“(Oof! Stop pushing! I’m already getting sandwiched by just being in-between you two inside of this small as heck car! What, you guys trying to squeeze me dry?)”

“Sorry, Ma-san! Didn’t mean to do that! The road gets a bit bumpy here and there, so I can’t really help it!”

“M-Ma-san? Y-You’re kinda pushing me against the window just a bit… C-can you take it easy, please…?”

… is basically this.

“(Geez! This is why I hate car rides!)” complained Ma-san as she squirmed a bit in her seat to get more room for herself, with Katy and Lammy seating next to her on opposite ends. “(It’s stuffy in here, it gets nauseating after just barely a minute, and I somehow always get the short end of the stick just by being in a tight spot like this one! Not to mention that this car is lame as heck! I mean, who even drives this piece of trash anymore?)”

“Uh, is everything okay back there?” asked Parappa as he took a brief look at the girls from the rear-view mirror before shifting his focus back to the front as he drove the car towards their destination. “It kinda sounds like Ma-san’s in a bad mood for some reason.”

“Oh, everything is fine, Parappa! Don’t worry!” reassured Katy with a smile. “Ma-san is just saying that you have a really nice car!”

“(And there she goes again…)” Ma-san grumbled as she leaned her head further back into the seat, not bothering trying to correct the blue cat this time around.

“It’s just that she has a pretty bad experience with car rides in general. But don’t let it bother you that much. That’s just how it is for her, that’s all.”

“Oh I didn’t know! Sorry about that, Ma-san.” apologized the rapper to the drummer. “I thought that if we take the car, it’ll be much faster to get to where we’re going. I’ll think about your feelings next time, ‘kay?”

“(… Well, at least he has some decency to think about others, unlike most people I’ve met.)” The yellow critter admitted.

“Speaking of cars,” spoke PJ who was sitting on the passenger seat next to Parappa, after he took another sip from his extra large Chunky soda. “Your dad is pretty nice to let you borrow the car again, Parappa. I always thought that we might have to walk the whole day, and I don’t really feel like walking a lot today…”

“Yeah. What a relief, right?” Parappa said as he made a right turn at the corner of the street. “I guess my dad trusts me a lot to let me handle things on my own. If he knew what happened the first time around, he would’ve bite me the whole day and I would’ve been banned from driving for life.”

“(Huh? What’s that mutt talking about?)” Ma-san asked as she raised a questionable eyebrow.

“Oh right! I’ve never told you guys this story!” said Katy as she just remembered something that was a pretty big deal back then. “When Parappa first got his Driver’s License and took us on a road trip right away, he totally got his dad’s car destroyed by smashing right into an incoming truck.”

“(What?!)”

“Hey! It’s just a rookie accident, no big deal!” Parappa said as he tried to justify his screw-up from before. “And besides, I did bought a new car that looks exactly the same as the old one on the exact same day, so it’s like nothing ever really happened!”

“(Where did you get the money for that?)” asked Ma-san skeptically. “(You don’t look anywhere near like some guy who works for a billion-dollar company. If anything, you look more like a bum to me.)” Katy elbowed her ribs for that last bit of comment, and the drummer simply responded by turning her head away in defiance.

“Actually, I’m also wondering about that too.” Katy said as she put her friend’s question into consideration. “How did you get the money to buy a new car right after you totalled the old one? I mean, your dad’s an inventor, but I don’t think he makes that much money for what he has.”

“Apparently, he met some guy working at a flea market.” PJ responded for the rapper, as he tried to recall what Parappa had told him the other day. “They did a rap together and Parappa helped him with selling his stuff.”

“Yeah! And after that, he agreed to help me buy a new car and save my tail!” explained the smiling Parappa just as he slowed the car to a halt at a red light. “Let me tell you, Mr. Prince Fleaswallow is a really chill dude! He’s got a tight rap that lasts in the rain and in the snow, and he taught me a lot of stuff that can help me get around with the flow!”

“Wait… Prince Fleaswallow?” Katy repeated the name, as it clicked something in her mind. “Isn’t he the criminal who is currently on the run from the police for stealing and scamming people?”

“(CRIMINAL?!)” shouted Ma-san in absolute shock.

“Uh… Yeah?” Parappa replied.

“Wait, you even knew?! Wow, Parappa! I didn’t know you’re the kind of person who is willing to help bad guys!” Katy smirked.

“Hey, how was I suppose to know that the guy’s bad news?” the rapper asked as he looked at the girls from behind, trying to defend himself. “All I knew about him the first time around is that he’s a cool guy and his slow rap is pretty dope! He even helped me buy the car!”

“He’s gotta have an ulterior motive for helping you with that. Any ideas, Parappa?”

“Well, uh…” Parappa scratched his head as he tried to recall what went down with the lizard man. “He did say something about how he’ll need my help with stuff sometime soon. He didn’t exactly told me what stuff.”

“Okay, Parappa. A word of advice from a friend: Stay as far away as possible from guys like him from now on, alright? Whatever good vibe you got from him, it’s not worth the risk.”

“Alright, fine. Yes, ma’am.” Parappa complied sarcastically, as the blue cat giggled in amusement.

As the two friends converse with one another on the topic at hand, Ma-san, who was still troubled by the fact that the dog helped a criminal once, scooted closer to Lammy and whispered something in her ear while keeping an eye on their driver. “(Hey, gloomy. Better keep your eyes peeled when you’re around this guy, because he’s one of those bad boys type of guys. Based on what I’ve seen, they’re always bad news no matter what, so I hope for your sake that you don’t get pulled into any of his dangerous stunts. Got it?)”

The yellow critter was expecting a response from the guitarist in a second or two. However, she did not get any reply after about 5 seconds. Shifting her gaze towards the redhead lamb, she noticed that Lammy was looking out through the window while holding her guitar stowed inside of its bag between her legs, seemingly paying no attention to the conversation going on inside of the car and keeping her focus on all the buildings, cars and people that they passed by.

“(Hey! Earth to lamb girl! Did you hear what I said?)” Ma-san nudged Lammy’s side to grab her attention, a bit annoyed that she did not seemed to hear what was going in inside.

“H-huh? What?” Lammy blinked and turned her attention away from the outside world after being nudged by the drummer. “O-oh! S-sorry, Ma-san. I must have spaced out or something…” she apologized. “Um… W-what were we talking about?”

Ma-san sighed in disbelief. “(You’re hopeless, girl…)” she said, leaving the redheaded guitarist even more confused than before.

“Well, anyway,” spoke Parappa as he moved the car forward once more once the green light lit up. “We’re almost there, Katy. Close to where you want us to go. You ready for this?”

“Oh yeah!” exclaimed Katy in excitement as she did a first pump. “And I should be the one to ask you boys that! Because we’re about to enter the place of musical dreams, which also happens to be my job! First stop: The Matsuzuki Music of Rock!”

* * *

“… Let’s get on, let’s get on… Hm hm hm, hm hm hm… Fight the fire, come on now…” hummed a large, grey gorilla wearing an uniform bearing the logo of the music store, as he rubbed a piece of cloth against the body of an acoustic guitar that was laid down on the counter in front of him.

Today had been a relatively slow day since this morning. About three or four people came in to the Matsuzuki Music of Rock store after the store opened and only one of them came to purchase one of the store’s items, while the others were window-shopping. But that was fine, since it gave him the opportunity to fix up any and all of the instruments from any dust and dirt that they might have gotten over the course of the week.

After scrubbing one last dirt off the acoustic guitar, he threw the cloth aside, held the instrument in front of him and inspected it to see if it looked as good as new. Then, he positioned the guitar properly in his hands and flicked each individual string to hear how they sounded. “Hmm… It needs just a small tune-up.” he said as he was about to adjust the tuning keys.

Then he heard the sound of the front door opening, followed by the usual tune that played as a result. Putting the guitar back down on the counter, he greeted the newly-entered customers with a smile.

“Welcome to Matsuzuki Music of Rock! How can I-… Hey! If it isn’t my favourite little kitty cat!” the grey gorilla expressed his surprise upon seeing a certain blue cat entering the store, accompanied by two people that he was familiar with, and two other people who are new to him.

“Hey, Boss!” waved Katy with a huge grin. “A slow day today, it looks like? You know, considering that you were busy working on that guitar just a second ago.”

“Hohoho! Right you are, my girl!” chuckled the gorilla as he moved out from behind the counter and joined the lead singer and her friends.

“Anyway, sorry for showing up out of nowhere on you like this. I just came because I wanna bring my friends here to hang out for a bit.”

“Not at all, not at all!” reassured the gorilla to his precious employee before turning his attention towards her two fellow band members. “And I see you brought the entire MilkCan crew with you! Good to see you again, little lamb and little mouse!”

“H-hi, Mr. Armstrong…” Lammy greeted the grey gorilla with a small wave.

“(I have a name, you know! Would you stop calling us by our looks, for once?)” said the annoyed Ma-san as she crossed her arms.

Katy turned her attention towards Parappa and PJ, as she introduced her boss to them. “Parappa, PJ, this is my awesome boss!” She then shifted her attention towards the gorilla. “Boss, these are my friends from school that I told you about!"

“Ho! So they are!” exclaimed the gorilla as he walked towards the two newcomers and offered his large hand to them. “I am called Kong Armstrong! I am the current owner of the Matsuzuki Music of Rock! A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance!”

“Nice to meet you too! The name’s Parappa! And this is PJ!” Parappa introduced himself and his friend to Mr. Armstrong, as he grasped and shook hands with him, while the bear simply waved from behind. “Oh wow, sir! That’s a really strong grip you got there!”

“Hoho! Thank you, little pup! Quite a few people said the same thing!”

“You’re the owner, huh?” said PJ as he was about to point out something that came off as a bit strange for him. “And this place is called the Matsuzuki Music of Rock, right? Shouldn’t it be called the Armstrong Music of Rock or something?”

“Oh, that’s easy, PJ! He’s actually the second owner of the store right after Boss Matsuzuki himself.” Katy explained. “He and Boss Armstrong are really good friends with each other, and about a year ago or two, Boss Matsuzuki retired and gave ownership of the store to him.”

“That is true.” Mr. Armstrong nodded in confirmation. “I hold Mr. Matsuzuki and his amazing instruments in such high regard that I refuse to remove his name or his presence from this store. Take a look.”

The grey gorilla pointed at the picture frame hanging behind the counter, which showed a picture of a smiling, Asian human with short black hair, with the name ‘Masayoshi Matsuzuki’ engraved on a silver plate below the picture.

“Mr. Matsuzuki may have retired, but his undying spirit will always watch over the store for us. Just this thought alone is enough for me to honour his legacy and continue his craft. Thanks to that, to this day, the Matsuzuki Music of Rock is still going strong even today!”

“Whoa! That’s a lot of respect that you have for him. It’s kinda inspiring in a way.” said Parappa as he expressed his amazement towards the gorilla’s dedication.

“Your kind words make me happy, little pup.” Mr. Armstrong expressed his gratitude.

Then, a spark of realization hit the grey gorilla, as he remembered something. “Oh, that’s right! My girl, I am happy to inform you that your custom order of MilkCan’s instruments have finally arrived!”

“Wait, really? That’s awesome, boss!” shouted Katy as she clasped her hands together in excitement upon hearing the news. “But I thought our stuff wouldn’t come until another month from now. So what gives?”

“The distributor and I have been negotiating about your order, and in exchange for the services that I offer, they agreed to place your order sooner than originally so.” Mr. Armstrong explained. “Think of it as my way of thanking you for your years of service under Boss Matsuzuki and me, little kitty cat.”

“Oh, Boss!” Katy then threw herself into him and gave him a huge, strong hug full of gratitude. “Thank you so much! I promise I’ll return your kindness with even more years of awesome service for the store!”

The grey gorilla simply laughed, as he returned the hug and patted the blue cat on the back.

“(So our stuff is already here? Then what are we standing around here for?! Where is it?!)”

“Oh, Ma-san is wondering where you put our custom order, Boss.” Katy translated for the drummer, as she pulled away from the hug.

“Oh it is still in the storage room back there.” Mr. Armstrong replied as he pointed at the back of the store and revealing the location of the new instrument. “I have yet to pull them out of their boxes, so if you let me take the time to take care of them, I will-“

Before he could finish what he was saying, a yellow blur flew right past him and went right inside of the storage room in the back, giving everyone no time to realize that the drummer had already gone to find the order.

All of the people that are present in the store looked through the open doorway behind the counter leading to the storage room. They heard sounds of boxes and tapes being rapidly shred to pieces, and a second later, they saw several boxes, tapes and pieces of cardboard being thrown across the room.

A few seconds have passed, and the sounds of shredding tapes and cardboards suddenly stopped, as did the sight of the thrown objects. A few seconds later, the group then heard sounds of the drums being rapidly played with a lot of force being put into them. The sounds could be heard throughout the entire store, and even from the outside, judging on how there were a couple of bystanders outside who stopped and moved their gaze towards the store where the sounds were heard.

After about 10 seconds of intense drum beating, the drumming session ended with one final clash of the cymbals, followed by the sound of a dynamite exploding, as the yellow mouse screamed out loud. “(AW YEAH!!!)”

“Hehe! Sounds like Ma-san really likes her new drums.” Katy giggled.

“Whoa… Ma-san really does have a very strong arm.” said Parappa in astonishment at what he had just heard.

“Yeah…” PJ agreed. “I’m getting a little scared, Parappa… Can we order another cherry pie?”

“Dude, we just finished eating 15 minutes ago.”

“I get hungry when I’m scared.” PJ shrugged.

“I-I’m really happy for you, Katy.” said Lammy as she approached her cat friend with a smile. “Y-you got your new bass guitar, a-and Ma-san got her new drums. I-I thought for sure that we have to wait another while longer for them to come…”

“Yeah, I thought so too, Lammy. But you’ve gotta hand it to the boss here! He’s a master at negotiating stuff!” Katy said while praising her boss’ skills, as the latter laughed in response to that. “Although, I kinda feel bad that I didn’t place a custom order for you too, Lammy. You sure you don’t want a new guitar or anything?”

“Oh n-n-no! That’s alright!” reassured Lammy as she waved both of her hands in front of her. “I don’t really need a new guitar. I-I’m fine with what I have right now…”

“Wait, really, Lammy?” Parappa stepped in as he could not help but listen in on the conversation between the redheaded lamb and the blue cat. “How come? Getting a new guitar means that it’s gonna sound incredibly awesome, right? I’m sure that it’s gonna turn some heads in one way or another.”

“O-oh, um… W-well…” Lammy stuttered, as she did not expect the rapper to suddenly join in on the conversation and ask her directly first. Looking down on her feet and having her hands joined together near her stomach, she could not help but fidget in place, as she struggled to find a way to answer properly. “M-maybe… B-but, uh… Y-you see…”

No matter how hard she tried to answer, even if it was just briefly, she found herself unable to do so, which was rather strange. Normally, she would have been fine answering a question as simple as that, and it wasn’t like she had anything to hide from everyone. So why was she having problems, all of the sudden?

Lifting her gaze up slightly, she looked over the beanie-wearing dog, who was still staring at her and waiting for an answer. Instantly, she lowered her gaze back down to her feet. What was wrong with her…?

“AHH!” The grey gorilla suddenly yelled, causing everyone in the main room to turn their attention towards him. “I almost forgot! It’s almost time!” he exclaimed as he took a look at the clock positioned above the front door.

Mr. Armstrong quickly moved behind the counter, bent down and had his hands rummage through what was under the counter until he pulled out a radio which he placed on the corner of the counter.

“What’s with the radio, boss?” Katy asked, curious as to why he was in a hurry like that.

“My girl, I nearly forgot to tell you something important.” Mr. Armstrong explained, as he wiped off the dust from the radio with his sleeve. “I was going to call you just to tell you to turn up the radio, but since you are here, it’s best if I show it to you right now.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“You will find out very shortly.” the grey gorilla said as he inserted the plug of the radio into the nearby electrical outlet. “If my sources are correct, then they should be airing the song right about… Now!”

He then turned the radio on.

_YOU’LL NEVER SEE IT COMIIIIIIIINNNG!_

_YOU’LL SEE THAT MY MIND IS TOO FAST FOR EYES!_

_YOU’RE DONE IIIIIIIIINNN!_

_BY THE TIME IT’S HIT YOU, YOUR LAST SURPRISE!_

“Aaargh!” Everyone groaned and immediately blocked their ears with their hands as the radio blasted a song very loudly throughout the store.

“Apologies! That is not what I want to show you!” Mr. Armstrong apologized as he quickly lowered the volume of the radio and turned the knob to search for the right radio channel. “Blasted thing… If I remember correctly, the channel should be right… there!”

_“PHHZZZ… and to cap off this week’s Greenblat Hottest Mix, we would like to introduce you to a brand new song done by an all-girls garage band well-known in Parappa Town, and it is making its world premier right here, at Mushimushi 82.5. So sit back and enjoy, folks, because this one… is quite the ride.”_

Everyone listened to the radio attentively as it was about to play a new song that no one knew about. The song started with the drumsticks tapping to play off a quick beat before the vocals began.

Katy widened her eyes in shock, as she immediately recognized her own voice in the song.

_It was the 36th time that he’s broken my heart_

_it was the 80th time that I’d fallen apart_

_I knew from the start it was gonna be rough_

_But not as painful as this_

“OH… MY… GOSH!” Katy squealed in sheer delight, as she pulled the closest person near her into a tight hug, the person being the redheaded guitarist. “GUYS, GUYS, GUYS! It’s our song! They’re playing _Keep Your Head Up_ on the radio! No way! No way! NO WAY! Am I dreaming?! Tell me I’m dreaming! Somebody, just pinch me!”

“W-wow…! It’s… It’s really our song…!” Lammy spoke in brief disbelief, as she herself could not believe she was currently hearing MilkCan’s first single on the radio, completely unaware that she was being tightly squeezed in her friends’ arms.

“Ma-san, come here, quick! They’re playing our song right now! Hurry!”

“(Hey, what’s with all the squealing and yelling out here?)” The yellow critter finally came out of the storage room to see what was going on, and it was then that she heard the song on the radio, her ears perking up as a result. The drummer immediately climbed up on the counter, moved herself near the radio and leaned her head in to listen to the song clearly, as she tried to see if it was not her mind just playing tricks on her.

“(…Heh! About time they play it on the air!)” she smirked. “(I almost thought that we’ve been scammed out of our first single!)”

“Hoho! Are you surprised, little kitty cat?” Mr. Armstrong laughed upon seeing the girls’ reaction.

“Are we?! You bet we are, Boss!” shouted the excited Katy, still hugging the redheaded lamb tight. “But how do you know that they’re going to play our song?!”

“I have a friend who works at a radio station, actually.” the grey gorilla replied. “He was the one who told me where and when they are going to air your song for the first time on the radio. If it were not for him, you would have missed such an enormous surprise such as this.”

“Oh I really, really love it!” Katy released Lammy from the hug and went straight for her boss, pulling him into another tight hug to show her immense gratitude. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ll never stop working here for the rest of my life! I’ll even become the next owner of this awesome store! I promise!”

“Hoho! Such enthusiasm!” Mr. Armstrong laughed as he patted the blue cat on the back once more.

“Is this seriously you guys’ first song? Awesome!” shouted Parappa, as it was the first time that he heard a song done by MilkCan. “Hey, hey! Do you guys mind if PJ and I listen to it real closely? I wanna know what all the fuss is about!” PJ nodded in agreement.

“Of course, Parappa!” Katy replied as she pulled herself away from her boss. “Crank it up, Boss! It’s time for these two boys to find out what MilkCan is all about!”

With a hearty chuckle, Mr. Armstrong complied and increased the volume of the radio so that it can be heard across the entire store. Parappa closed his eyes so that he could listen intently to the song itself, head-banging to the rhythm. That was in contrast to PJ just simply listening to the song without the extra dedication.

Meanwhile, Ma-san was sitting next to the radio, mimicking her drum play to the rhythm of the song. Katy, on her end, was still full of joy from hearing MilkCan’s song on the radio for the first time, so much that she could be seen repeatedly jumping up and down and smiling like a kid at a candy store.

As for Lammy, as soon as she was completely convinced that everything was happening for real, found herself turning her attention towards the beanie-wearing rapper, who seemed to be fully engrossed into the song. There was no real reason for her to do so, other than being curious of finding out the dog’s thoughts on their first song.

Everyone remained silent until the end of the song. “Haha! Wow! This song is incredible, you guys!” exclaimed Parappa.

“Oh thanks, Parappa!” Katy said, happy that it seemed the rapper was enjoying it. “Lammy, Ma-san and I worked really hard on it. Like, you wouldn’t believe the countless of hours it took us to find a good common ground for all of us in terms of our skills and instruments”

“And it really shows! I’m happy for you guys!”

Katy giggled at the praise that her dog friend was giving to her and her fellow band members. She then moved her gaze towards PJ, who was also listening to the song until the end. “What about you, PJ? Do you like our first song?”

“Yeah, I like it.” PJ nodded.

“(… That’s it?)” Ma-san asked as she dropped off the counter, unconvinced that the bear had nothing else to say. “(You’ve just heard our very first song ever in the history of the band, from happy’s loud vocals, to gloomy’s guitar-shredding, to my awesome, intense and out-of-this-world beating of my drums, and all you can say is that ‘you like it’?)”

PJ shrugged. “Yeah, that sounds about it. I like it.”

“(Great… We got another poser who doesn’t appreciate true rock. Your taste in friends is garbage, happy.” Ma-san sighed as she realized that she had to deal with one of those fans, especially one who is the friend of a friend… Until she realized something about the bear. “(Wait… Did you just understand me?!)”

“Um… W-w-what about you, Parappa…?” Lammy asked. “W-what do you think about our song…?”

“What I really think about it? Hmm…” Parappa closed his eyes and grasped his chin with one hand, as he assumed a thinking pose. “Well, I could always say that I really like it. But that’s like dissing all the work you guys have done into making it."

“Oh you don’t have to go that far for us!” Katy reassured him. “If you say that you like it, then that’s more than enough for us!”

Lammy would like to agree with her friend there… But something inside of her told her otherwise.

“Nah! I like to take things the extra mile, especially when it comes to music!” Parappa insisted. “Anyway, where to go from here…”

The rapper remained in his thinking pose for a few seconds, as he tried to break the song down in his mind to find specific points to talk about, based on his first impression. Then, he opened his eyes and turned his gaze towards his blue cat friend. “Katy, your voice is great in this. The way that you quickly adapted to the various parts of the song while keeping a rock-out tune that comes with genre, it’s really amazing. That’s on top of playing the bass guitar at the same time. You got a lot of range to make any song work, no matter how different each of them may be from one another.”

“Aww, Parappa! Thank you so much!” Katy smiled widely at his comment.

Parappa turned to look at Ma-san, grabbing her attention once he was addressing her. “Ma-san, the way that you rocked out while playing the drums like you don’t have a care in the world is really intense. You really channeled that roaring sensation deep in the heart when you slammed those drums like it’s no one’s business. It really brings out the emotion deep inside of me.”

“(Finally!)” Ma-san threw her arms up in the air in relief. “(Somebody who actually understands good music! I take back what I said about your taste in friends, cat girl!)”

“But if you ask me, what I like the most when I listen to your song…” Parappa then turned his attention towards Lammy, who instinctively averted her eyes to avoid eye-contact. “… is Lammy’s insane ability to shred the guitar. Out of all of them, this is the one that stood out for me the most and the one that I find myself being totally lost in. When the song starts to go all over the place around the middle, Lammy is able to keep up with it despite the sudden shift in tone. And when the song got to its climax, it’s there that her skills really start to show, as it really gives off a pretty uplifting feeling inside. Dunno what else I can say, except that I really got inspired from how she plays her guitar.”

“R… Really…?” Lammy timidly asked, surprised to hear yet another kind and elaborated praise from the rapper.

“Yeah! And after hearing it, I wasn’t wrong about what I said back at the restaurant, Lammy.” Parappa grinned. “The folks out there are really missing out on you! You really are amazing! I really believe it!”

The redheaded lamb blushed. On the same day that she had just met the boy, it was twice that he managed to give her warm feelings deep inside of her with his kindhearted and insightful comment about her skills in playing the guitar, and to some extent her contribution to MilkCan. She could not figure out just what was up with him that always giving her such uplifting feelings from within. “Uh… I… I…”

“(Wow, lamb girl! That mutt is just giving you a couple of sweet words, and your face is already as red as a tomato! You’ve got a thing for guys like him?)” Ma-san teased the guitarist as she smirked.

“W-w-w-what?! T-t-that’s not…! I-I mean I d-don’t…! Uhh…!” Lammy stuttered from the drummer’s playful tease, as she could barely mustered out the strength to speak out any audible and coherent sentence. Embarrassed, she quickly turned her back towards the group, as she stared down on the floor and placed her palms over her cheeks, trying to stop herself from blushing any further.

The yellow mouse could only chuckle at the sight of the retreating redhead.

“Hoho! It always warms my heart to see young people such as you having a great amount of fun! It almost makes me yearn for the days when I myself was young…” commented Mr. Armstrong.

“Thank you again for showing us this, Boss!” Katy expressed her gratitude to him once more. “Hey, do you mind if we go to the back and check out our new equipment?”

“Not at all, my girl!” the grey gorilla replied as he showed the band the doorway leading to the storage from behind the counter. “Please, take all the time that you need! The most important thing is to appreciate your gifts!”

“Thanks a lot!” Katy happily shouted as she walked towards the storage room, bringing the redheaded guitarist along by grabbing her by the wrist. “Let’s go, Lammy! Let’s check out and see just how awesome our new stuff looks and feels!”

“Uh… R-right…” Lammy nodded, still blushing from what happened a few seconds ago.

“(Hey, don’t you guys dare lay a finger on my drums, you hear?!)” Ma-san exclaimed as she joined the rest of the band into the storage room. “(The only one worthy to even touch them is this one right here! You got that?!)”

As soon as MilkCan disappeared inside of the storage room, Mr. Armstrong turned his attention towards the remaining male friends of his employee. “Ah, but I cannot forget about you nice friends of little kitty cat! I must show my hospitality by offering a fine instrument fitting for someone who is knowledgeable in the world of music!”

He then lifted the acoustic guitar that was still lying down on the counter and handed it to Parappa. “Here! Why not have this wonderful guitar of high quality? You have shown that you have understood little lamb’s skills beyond what an average person knows, so this one here is perfect for you!”

“Aw, thanks for the offer, sir!” Parappa said as he scratched the back of his head. “But you don’t have to do it for us. Besides, we already got ourselves a new guitar recently.”

“Such modesty! I like you, little dog!” Mr. Armstrong chuckled. “So you already have one? I wonder, what kind of guitar is it?”

“Oh it’s an awesome guitar! PJ and I were already drawn to it when we first laid our eyes on it! It’s like it was meant to be! Right, PJ?”

“Yeah.” PJ nodded in confirmation. “We like it so much that we modified it just a tiny bit so that it looks professional-like.”

“Actually, PJ, you brought it with you, right?”

“Yep.” PJ nodded as he pulled out the ‘guitar’ in question.

As the two boys took pride in the work that they have done with their instrument, Mr. Armstrong could only stare at the modified version of their guitar… Or rather, the version of it whose body looked nowhere close to that of an actual guitar.

“… Is this… a wood block?”

_End of Chapter_


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